LIBRARY 

UNIVWW*  OF, 

CALIFORNIA 

I       SAN  01  EGO 


MEMORIAL    ADDRESSES 


IFE     AND      CHARACTER 


LlFE     AND      C 
OF 

HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER 

(A  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  CONNECTICUT,) 


DELIVERED   IN   THE 


SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

FEBRUARY  24,  1876. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  CONGRESS. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT     PRINTING     OFFICE. 


ADDRESSES 

ON   THE 

DEATH  OF  H.  H.  STARKWEATHER. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  HOUSE. 
FRIDAY,  JANUARY  28,  1876. 

The  House  met  at  12  o'clock  m.  Prayer  by  the 
Chaplain,  Rev.  I.  L.  Townsend,  D.  D. 

DEATH   OF    HON.    HENRY   H.    STARKWEATHER. 

Mr.  BARNUM.  I  rise  to  announce  the  death  in  this  city 
this  morning  of  my  late  colleague  from  the  third  congres- 
sional district  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  Hon.  HENRY  H. 
STARKWEATHER,  and  to  offer  the  resolutions  which  I  send 
to  the  Clerk's  desk. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows: 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  seven  members  be  appointed  by 
the  Speaker  of  the  House  to  take  order  for  superintending  tfie 
funeral  of  Hon.  HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER,  late  a  member  of 
this  body  from  the  State  of  Connecticut. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  mark  of  the  respect  entertained  by  the 
House  for  the  memory  of  Hon.  HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER,  his 
remains  be  removed  to  Norwich,  Conn.,  in  charge  of  the  Sergeaut- 
at-Arms  and  attended  by  the  said  committee,  who  shall  have  full 
power  to  carry  this  resolution  into  effect. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  HOUSE. 


Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  communicate  these  proceedings  to  the 
Senate. 

Resolved,  That  as  an  additional  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory 
of  the  deceased  the  House  do  now  adjourn. 

The  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted. 

The  SPEAKEE,  in  pursuance  of  the  first  resolution,  an- 
nounced the  appointment  of  the  following  committee :  Mr. 
BARNUM,  Mr.  GTARFIELD,  Mr.  WHEELER,  Mr.  PHELPS,  Mr. 
HOAR,  Mr.  LANDERS,  of  Connecticut,  and  Mr.  ASHE. 

And  thereupon  (at  three  o'clock  and  ten  minutes  p.  m.) 
the  House,  in  accordance  with  the  concluding  resolution 
just  adopted,  adjourned. 


FEBRUARY  24,  1876. 

The  SPEAKER.  The  Chair  desires  now  to  say  to  the 
House  that  he  was  notified  early  this  morning  by  the 
friends  of  the  late  Mr.  STARKWEATHER,  of  Connecticut, 
that  it  was  their  desire  at  three  o'clock  to  proceed  in  the 
House  to  pay  the  proper  respect  to  the  memory  of  Mr. 
STARKWEATHER.  That  hour  is  now  passed,  and  twenty 
minutes  more.  What  is  it  the  pleasure  of  the  House  now 
to  do? 

Mr.  PHELPS.  I  wish  the  House  now  to  listen  to  the 
resolutions  of  respect  to  Mr.  STARKWEATHER'S  memory 
which  I  send  to  the  Clerk's  desk. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows: 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  deep  regret  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  death  of  HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER,  late  a 
member  of  this  House  from  the  State  of  Connecticut. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  HOUSE. 


Resolved,  That  as  a  testimony  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  de- 
ceased, the  officers  and  members  of  the  House  will  wear  the  usual 
badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
Clerk  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  further  mark  of  respect  the  House  do  now 
adjourn. 

Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  forthwith  transmitted 
to  the  Senate. 


Address  by    Mr.  Phelps,  of  Connecticut. 


Mr.  Speaker,  it  has  again  become  the  sad  duty  of  the 
Representatives  of  the  State  of  Connecticut  to  announce 
the  decease  of  one  of  their  colleagues  in  the  councils  of  the 
nation.  The  shafts  of  death  have  recently  fallen  with  such 
rapidity  upon  the  distinguished  citizens  of  the  Republic 
that  even  the  eloquence  of  eulogy  has  become  common- 
place in  these  Halls,  and  it  is  difficult  without  repetition  to 
select  language  suitable  for  the  expression  of  our  feelings. 
But  a  few  days  since  we  were  required  to  suspend  the 
prosecution  of  our  ordinary  official  duties  and  pay  the  cus- 
tomary tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  one  who,  at 
the  time  of  his  decease,  was  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  high- 
est honor  which  a  State  of  this  Union  can  bestow  on  its 
most  deserving  citizen.  Now,  sir,  it  is  not  a  Senator  who 
has  fallen  but  one  of  our  own  members,  an  honored  mem- 
ber of  this  House,  who  possessed  the  respect  of  us  all,  and 
the  friendship  of  many  of  the  oldest  and  most  prominent 
members  of  this  body. 

Hon.  HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER  died  at  his  lodgings  in 
this  city  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  January  last.  His 
recent  invocation  in  behalf  of  another  to  "come  quickly" 


ADDRESS  BY  MB.   PHELPS  ON  THE 


was  speedily  answered  to  himself,  and  his  spirit  has  been 
borne  to  the  presence  of  Him  who  gave  it. 

He  was  born,  of  highly  respectable  parents,  in  the  town 
of  Preston,  Conn.,  on  the  2<Jth  day  of  April,  1826.  His 
father  was  in  moderate  pecuniary  circumstances,  and 
followed  the  plain  but  reputable  pursuit  of  agriculture, 
and  his  son  until  twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  not  at- 
tending the  common  schools  or  teaching  in  them,  assisted 
his  father  in  his  work  upon  the  farm.  With  such  oppor- 
tunities for  education  as  he  possessed,  and  with  a  strong 
desire  for  learning  and  a  natural  intellect  of  a  superior 
order,  he  acquired  a  thorough  common  education,  and  by 
much  and  well-selected  reading  stored  his  mind  with  use- 
ful information,  which  a  vigorous  and  well-trained  memory 
enabled  him  to  retain.  In  that  way  he  acquired  a  fund 
of  valuable  knowledge  from  which,  as  occasion  required, 
he  drew  in  after  life  and  made  available  in  all  the  exigen- 
cies of  his  professional  and  political  career. 

His  ambition  for  distinction  led  him  to  adopt  the  pro- 
fession of  the  law,  for  which  he  qualified  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  an  eminent  and  accomplished  lawyer,  now  one  of 
the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  State,  arid  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1850.  He  immediately  commenced 
practice  in  the  city  of  Norwich,  and  at  a  bar  which  num- 
bered among  its  members  some  of  the  most  able  and 
distinguished  practitioners  in  the  State,  occupied  a  respect- 
able position.  Like  many  other  young  and  promising 
members  of  his  profession,  he  allowed  himself  to  be  with- 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  H.   STARKWEATHER.         9 

drawn  from  exclusive  devotion  to  it  by  the  excitement  of 
politics,  and  after  a  short  practice  of  ten  years,  during 
which  he  had  been  steadily  rising  toward  distinction,  he 
accepted  the  appointment  of  postmaster  in  that  city,  and 
from  that  time  gave  little  attention  to  his  profession. 

In  politics  he  was  a  whig  until  the  disintegration  of  that 
party,  and  then  actively  assisted  in  the  organization  of  the 
American  party,  by  which  he  was  elected  to  the  lower 
house  in  the  State  Legislature  in  1856.  He  afterward 
aided  with  enthusiasm  in  the  formation  of  the  republican 
party,  was  prominent  in  its  councils,  and  was  a  delegate 
to  the  national  conventions  which  nominated  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  1860  and  General  Grant  in  1868.  He  was  re-appointed 
postmaster  in  1865  by  President  Johnson;  but  after  the 
latter  made  his  celebrated  speech  on  the  22d  of  February, 
1866,  he  could  not  longer  consistently  retain  office  under 
his  administration,  and  resigned. 

He  was  nominated  and  elected  to  Congress  in  1867,  and 
by  successive  re-elections  continued  to  occupy  a  seat  here 
until  his  death.  The  period  embraced  in  his  congressional 
service  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  in  the  history  of 
the  country,  and  during  that  period  he  at  different  times 
held  positions  on  several  of  the  most  important  committees 
of  the  House,  and  was  remarkable  for  the  faithfulness 
with  which  he  constantly  endeavored  to  perform  his  duty. 
No  request  from  a  constituent,  however  humble,  was  dis- 
regarded by  him,  and  his  known  fidelity  to  duty  and  his 
conscientious  adherence  to  principle  were  what  most  es- 


2  s 


10  ADDRESS  BY  MR.  PHELPS  ON  THE 

pecially  constituted  the  elements  of  his  strength.  He  was 
quiet  and  unassuming  in  his  official  demeanor,  and  seldom 
attempted  to  participate  in  debate  beyond  the  formal 
statements  which  were  necessary  to  explain  the  reports 
from  committees  which  he  had  occasion  to  make ;  but  he 
had,  notwithstanding,  acquired  an  influence  from  his  long 
membership  and  his  familiarity  with  the  rules  of  congres- 
sional proceedings  which  any  member,  however  long  in 
service,  may  be  satisfied  to  attain.  That  made  him  a  very 
valuable  and  efficient  Representative,  and  enabled  him 
to  acquire  a  usefulness  which  no  inexpeiienced  member, 
however  able,  can  hope  to  possess.  His  congressional 
career  is  familiar  to  many  now  here  who  have  been  long 
associated  with  him,  and  to  them  I  leave  the  friendly 
office  of  more  ably  and  particularly  illustrating  it. 

He  possessed  an  uncommon  natural  power  in  another 
respect.  He  had  a  remarkably  accurate  judgment  of  men, 
and  an  almost  intuitive  perception  of  their  character. 
This  added  much  to  his  capacity  and  influence  as  a  legis- 
lator, and  was  a  material  and  valuable  constituent  in  the 
composition  of  the  man. 

He  also  possessed  great  force  of  will,  and  bravely  strug- 
gled against  the  disease  which  overcame  him.  He  had 
successfully  passed  through  previous  severe  attacks  of  ill- 
ness and  doubted  not  he  should  escape  fatal  consequences 
from  the  last.  Through  fear  of  occasioning  his  family 
unnecessary  apprehension,  he  refused  to  allow  them  to  be 
informed  of  the  severity  of  his  suffering,  and  as  late  as 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  H.   STARKWEATHER.       11 

the  afternoon  before  his  death  addressed  with  his  own 
hand,  which  betrayed  no  sign  of  weakness,  a  few  affec- 
tionate and  encouraging  words  to  his  wife,  who,  unknown 
to  him,  was  then  hastening,  in  feeble  health,  but  with  true 
wifely  instinct  and  devotion,  to  administer  to  him  the 
comfort  of  her  care  and  the  consolation  of  her  companion- 
ship. She  arrived  in  season  to  receive  an  intelligent  and 
affectionate  recognition  from  him,  and  a  few  moments 
after  he  passed  from  life  as  gently  as  the  twilight  fades 
into  the  night.  He  has  gone  in  the  pride  of  his  intellect- 
ual strength,  before  the  frosts  of  age  had  silvered  his 
locks  or  the  hand  of  time  fun-owed  his  brow ;  gone  in 
the  midst  of  his  usefulness,  when  his  services  were  more 
than  ever  valuable  and  needed. 

There  was  another  prominent  element  in  his  character, 
too  rarely  found  in  the  statesmen  of  the  present  day, 
which  cannot  be  omitted  without  doing  him  great  injustice 
and  rendering  the  portraiture  of  his  life  very  incomplete. 
He  was  a  devoted  Christian.  Disease  assailed  him  at  his 
post  of  duty  and  soon  conquered  his  weak  frame;  but 
the  invitation  from  his  Master  did  not  find  him  unprepared; 
"  he  knew  in  whom  he  trusted."  He  had  in  early  life 
clothed  himself  with  the  armor  of  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  that  shield  and  helmet  and  breast-plate  which 
were  the  panoply  of  his  defense  against  the  assaults  of 
the  enemy  of  all  righteousness  were  worn  by  him  in  tri- 
umph to  the  end.  At  his  obsequies  the  overflowing  church 
and  thronged  streets,  the  saddened  countennnces  and  tear- 


12  ADDRESS  BY  MR.  PHELPS  ON  THE 

ful  eyes,  spoke  eloquently  of  the  universal  respect  and 
grief  of  the  community  who  had  known  him  longest  and 
best.  The  benedictions  of  a  bereaved  people  were  rev- 
erently breathed  upon  his  casket. 

Death  is  under  all  circumstances  a  solemn  event  and  can 
scarcely  occur  to  the  humblest  and  most  obscure  without 
inflicting  torture  on  other  hearts ;  and  while  it  is  true  that 
the  sorrow  of  such  is  sometimes  more  deep  and  lasting 
than  that  of  those  who  move  in  a  higher  sphere,  yet  the 
public  are  not  shocked.  But  when  a  citizen  whose  posi- 
tion and  services  have  made  his  name  familiar  is  stricken 
down. in  the  conflict  of  life,  with  his  official  armor  on,  the 
electric  announcement  which  thrills  throughout  the  coun- 
try produces  a  sensation  of  public  calamity  and  loss,  a 
feeling  that  a  public  servant  has  fallen,  the  loss  of  whose 
experience  and  service  is  a  public  bereavement. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  last  public  act  of  Senator 
Ferry  was  to  pronounce  a  eulogy  upon  his  colleague, 
Senator  Buckingham-.  It  is  a  more  singular  circumstance 
that  Mr.  STARKWEATHER'S  last  official  work  was  the  prepa- 
ration of  a  similar  address  upon  Senator  Ferry.  It  is  yet 
more  singular  that  before  that  address  was  delivered  he 
had  been  suddenly  summoned  from  this  world,  and  that 
paper  was  read  to  this  House  in  the  place  of  a  eulogy  of 
his  own  by  the  distinguished  gentleman  from  Ohio,  [Gen- 
eral Garfield.]  I  will  leave  to  others  who  have  finer 
imagination  and  more  fervid  speech  to  paint  with  glowing 
words  the  beauty  of  the  closing  part  of  that  address,  and 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  H.   STARKWEATHER.       13 

to  tell  how  descriptive  it  was  of  his  own  feelings  and  con- 
dition, how  personally  prophetic  in  its  application,  and 
how  truly  it  sounded  like  the  triumphant  strains  of  the 
dying  Christian  singing  his  own  requiem. 

In  private  life  Mr.  STARKWEATHER  was  above  reproach, 
modest  and  unaffected  in  his  manner,  amiable  in  his  dis- 
position, genial  and  social  in  his  intercourse,  generous  to 
his  friends,  charitable  to  the  poor,  just  to  all.  He  was 
deeply  devoted  to  those  who  composed  his  cherished 
household  circle  and  equally  beloved  by  them. 


14  ADDRESS  BY  MR.  STEVENSON  ON  THE 


Address  by  Mr.    Stevenson,  of  Illinois. 


Mr.  Speaker,  it  had  been  my  intention  rather  to  listen 
than  to  take  part  in  these  solemn  ceremonies.  But  at  the 
•  request  of  my  honorable  friend  from  Connecticut,  [Mr. 
Phelps,]  I  desire  in  brief  words  to  add  my  tribute  of  re- 
spect to  the  memory  of  him  whose  loss  we  deplore. 

My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  STARKWEATHER  began  at  the 
opening  of  the  present  session  of  Congress.  From  the 
first  he  impressed  me  as  a  gentleman  of  a  high  order  of 
ability,  laborious  in  the  discharge  of  every  duty,  and 
faithful  to  every  trust.  A  continuous  service  in  this 
House  for  more  than  eight  years  fully  attests  the  value 
placed  upon  his  services  by  the  people  whom  he  repre- 
sented. The  record  of  the  proceedings  of  this  body  will 
show  that  he  played  no  unimportant  part  in  the  discus- 
sion and  adjustment  of  the  great  questions  of  public  policy 
which  have  agitated  the  country  during  the  last  decade 
of  years.  Wrong  he  may  at  times  have  been  in  his  con- 
clusions, but  that  those  conclusions  were  the  result  of 
intelligent  deliberation  and  conscientious  conviction  110 
one  who  knew  him  could  doubt.  But,  sir,  it  is  not  for  me 
to  speak  more  fully  of  his  public  services.  Others  who 


LIFE  AND -CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  H.   STARKWEATHER.       15 

have  known  him  longer  and  have  been  his  co-laborers 
here  have  performed  that  duty. 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  sad  duty  devolved  upon  myself  with 
others  of  this  House,  under  your  appointment,  to  bear  the 
remains  of  our  late  associate  back  to  his  native  State,  to 
his  home  and  people,  and  there  consign  them  to  their  last 
resting-place.  The  sad  yet  pleasing  recollections  of  that 
service  can  never  be  effaced  from  my  memory.  If  I  had 
doubted  the  strong  hold  that  this  Representative  had  upon 
the  hearts  of  his  people,  such  doubts  would  have  been 
dispelled  by  the  symbols  of  grief,  the  evidences  of  true 
sorrow  we  everywhere  beheld.  For  one  day  all  business 
was  suspended,  public  buildings  and  many  private  resi- 
dences draped  in  mourning,  while  the  countenances  of 
the  many  thousands  who  followed  him  to  the  silent  grave 
bore  unmistakable  evidences  of  deep  and  lasting  sorrow. 

Mr.  Speaker,  our  late  associate  has  played  his  part  in 
this  little  drama  of  human  life,  and  the  record  of  his  deeds 
here  is  forever  closed.  The  places  that  have  known  him 
upon  the  earth  can  know  him  no  more  forever.  In  a 
beautiful  New  England  city,  surrounded  by  the  eternal 
hills,  among  a  people  who  so  long  honored  themselves  by 
honoring  him — 

He  sleeps  his  last  sleep,  and 

No  souud  can  awake  him  to  glory  again. 

Mr.  Speaker,  we  mourn  him  as  a  trusted  associate,  as 
a  faithful  public  servant,  but  what  must  be  the  bereave- 
ment of  those  to  whom  he  sustained  the  more  endearing 
relation  of  husband  and  father!  Within  that  vale  of 


16  ADDRESS  BY  MR.  STEVENSON  ON  THE 

sacred  grief  we  would  not  enter;  but  "may  He  who  tem- 
pers the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb"  soothe  and  sustain  the 
bereaved  in  this  trying  hour. 

Sir,  as  we  pause  for  a  brief  moment  from  the  cares  and 
duties  that  press  upon  us,  to  pay  this  last  tribute  of  re- 
spect to  the  memory  of  our  departed  friend,  it  is  a  pleas- 
ing thought  that  to  the  character  of  faithful  Representative, 
exemplary  citizen,  and  devoted  husband  and  father,  he 
added  that  of  a  humble,  devout  Christian.  The  dread 
summons  which  came  to  him,  and  which  we  know  not 
how  soon  must  come  to  us  all,  found  him  calmly,  reso- 
lutely awaiting  its  approach. 

Mr.  Speaker,  almost  the  last  act  of  Mr.  STARKWEATHER'S 
life  was  the  preparation  of  the  beautiful  and  touching 
eulogium  upon  Senator  Ferry,  which  he  did  not  live  to 
utter,  but  which  was  so  impressively  read  to  this  House 
but  a  few  days  since  by  my  honorable  friend  from  Ohio, 
[Mr.  Grarfield.]  Sir,  I  know  of  no  more  fitting  language 
with  which  to  close  these  remarks  than  those  prophetic 
words  with  which  he  closed  his  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
the  dead  Senator  from  his  own  State: 

It  was  most  beautiful  aud  grand,  amid  failing  strength  and 
long  years  of  pain,  to  hear  him  discourse  of — 

Rest  at  last, 

Repose  complete,  eternal ; 

Love,  rest,  and  home. 

No  cloud  obscured  the  effulgence  of  his  hope  or  dimmed  his 
vision.  Clear  and  high  his  intellect  and  his  faith  rose  above  all 
storms  and  darkness,  and  sustained  him  in  sweet  companionship 
amid  the  unrevealed  mysteries  of  pain. 

Thinking  of  trials  past,  and  knowing,  as  we  do,  how  well  he 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF  HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER.       17 

had  wrought  for  the  future,  trusting  iu  the  merits  of  his  dear 
Lord,  he  could  repeat  the  sweet  lines  of  Bonar — 
Beyond  the  parting  and  the  meeting 

I  shall  be  soon ; 

Beyond  the  farewell  and  the  greeting, 
Beyond  the  pulse's  fever  beating, 

I  shall  be  soon. 
Love,  rest,  and  home! 
Sweet  home! 
Lord,  tarry  not,  but  come. 

Beyond  the  frost-chain  aud  the  fever 

I  shall  be  soou ; 

Beyond  the  rock-waste  and  the  river, 
Beyond  the  ever  and  the  never, 

I  shall  be  soon. 
Love,  rest,  and  home! 
Sweet  home! 
Lord,  tarry  not,  but  come. 


3  S 


18  ADDRESS  BY  MR.   HALE   ON   THE 


Address  by    Mr.  Wale,  of    Maine. 


Mr.  Speaker,  from  the  day  when  I  first  entered  this 
House,  seven  years  ago,  the  deceased  member  and  I  have 
been  thrown  much  together.  We  both  served  upon  the 
Committee  on  Naval  Affairs  in  the  Forty-first  Congress, 
and  during  all  the  arduous  labors  of  the  Committee  on 
Appropriations  for  the  Forty-third  Congress  we  sat  at  the 
same  table,  engaged  in  the  same  work.  Still  later,  (and 
this  recollection  summons  his  face  before  me  in  clear 
relief,)  he  sat  next  on  my  right  in  the  chair  which  is  to- 
day vacant;  and  so  it  came  about  that  I  knew  him  well — 
were  it  not  for  that  fine  reserve  which  was  a  feature  of 
his  character,  I  should  say  intimately. 

Like  other  gentlemen  who  have  served  with  him  on 
committees,  I  learned  to  value  Mr.  STARKWEATHER  for  the 
faithful  services  that  he  brought  to  every  duty  laid  upon 
him,  and  for  the  clear  judgment  that  he  displayed  in  often- 
times conflicting  national,  sectional,  and  political  interests. 
Through  it  all  he  was  honest  and  earnest  of  purpose,  and, 
though  by  no  means  an  aggressive  man  in  temper,  he  was 
effective  and  spirited  in  maintaining  his  views,  and  if  ever 


LIFE  AND   CHARACTER   OF   HENRY  H.   STARKWEATHER.       19 

assailed  in  any  manner  reflecting  on  the  consistency  of 
his  political  course,  he  always  showed  that  he  was  amply 
capable  of  taking  care  of  himself. 

He  has  left  this  presence  where  not  a  few  still  remain 
who  have  served  with  him,  and  among  them  all  I  venture 
to  say  there  is  not  one  who  does  not  feel  that  he  was 
honest,  capable,  and  faithful. 

His  constituents  appreciated  this  high  character,  and 
manifested  their  appreciation  by  repeated  returns.  It  is 
no  common  thing  either  in  Connecticut  or  in  any  State 
for  a  member  of  this  House  to  be  returned  here  at  five 
successive  elections.  Few  higher  honors  ever  fall  upon 
an  American  citizen.  From  some  acquaintance  with  his 
constituents  I  have  been  impressed  with  the  belief  that 
their  confidence  in  him  has  been  for  ten  years  a  growing 
and  not  a  waning  sentiment. 

Like  many  of  our  public  men,  Mr.  STARKWEATHER  gave 
his  best  years  to  the  service  of  his  country,  and  died  a 
poor  man ;  but  he  has  left  to  his  dear  wife  and  children 
that  precious  legacy,  a  good  name  and  the  memory  of  a 
well-spent  life. 

Upon  this  floor  we  have  all  seen  him,  attentive  and 
watchful ;  in  the  committee-rooms  of  this  Capitol,  where 
is  molded  the  legislation  of  forty  millions  of  people,  some 
of  us  have  sat  by  him  and  have  been  benefited  by  his 
counsels. 

The  years  of  his  public  service  have  come  and  have 
gone.  They  failed  not  with  him,  as  they  fail  not  with 


20  ADDRESS  BY  MR.  HALE  ON  THE 

most  of  us,  to  deepen  the  unseen  burdens  of  mortality 
and  to  sap  the  strength  with  which  we  resist  the  common 
decay.  But  out  of  it  all  Mr.  STARKWEATHER  brought  none 
or  little  of  the  accumulations  for  which  many  men  in  other 
walks  barter  health,  honor,  and  life. 

He  was  content  to  do  well  his  duty,  and  the  recollec- 
tion of  his  patient  life  and  the  protection  of  a  kind  Creator 
and  Father  will,  I  know,  raise  up  friends  for  those  who 
were  dependent  upon  him  and  who  are  well-nigh  heart- 
broken at  his  loss. 

Listening  the  other  day  to  the  deep  and  fervent  words 
which  he  had  written  for  an  occasion  like  this,  in  memory 
of  his  deceased  friend,  the  late  Senator  from  Connecticut, 
in  which  in  rapt  language  he  prefigured  the  soul's  relation 
to  the  illimitable  future,  and  also  looking  back,  as  I  now 
do,  to  the  incidents  and  observations  of  every-day  life, 
which  are  apt  to  elude  us  until  after  our  friends  are  taken 
from  us,  I  am  impressed  with  the  belief  that  Mr.  STARK- 
WEATHER carried  with  him,  as  a  constant  presence,  the 
conviction  that  death  might  at  any  time  come  to  him. 
He  was  never,  or  at  least  not  for  years,  what  might  be 
called  a  well  man.  Lassitude,  weakness,  illness,  all  con- 
spired to  drag  him  down.  Against  these  he  always  made  an 
uncomplaining  and  manly  resistance,  and  notwithstanding 
them  wrought  out  a  life  of  useful  deeds  such  as  few  men 
ever  compass. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  what  struggles  and  misgivings  the 
watches  of  the  night,  could  they  be  laid  bare,  might  show 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  H.   STARKWEATHER.       21 

to  us  we  can  never  know.  There  are  no  such  heroic  com- 
bats as  these  silent,  solitary  ones,  with  the  relentless  foe 
that  at  last  occupies  all  human  fields.  The  ordinary  con- 
flicts of  human  life  sink  into  littleness  beside  them.  To 
know  that  the  destroyer  has  made  his  lodgment,  and  that 
whatsoever  may  be  the  tie  that  binds  us  to  life,  the  allure- 
ments of  public  station,  the  charm  of  love  and  friendship,  the 
laughter  and  confidence  of  little  children,  he  will  yet  give 
us  but  little  notice,  is  what  with  most  men  breaks  down 
courage  and  palsies  every  effort.  Thinking  of  such  a 
conflict,  and  believing  as  I  do  that  our  friend  waged  it, 
I  recall  the  words  of  Thackeray  upon  another  of  life's 
lost  battles : 

The  thought  of  it  smites  ine  down  in  humble  submission  before 
the  Euler  of  kings  and  men,  the  Monarch  Supreme,  the  inscrutable 
Dispenser  of  life,  death,  happiness,  victory. 

He  who  has  left  us  was  no  recreant  here.  He  suc- 
cumbed only  when  the  hand  could  be  no  more  upraised 
and  the  asserting  will  failed  forever.  But  he  has  left  with 
us  the  memory  of  the  cheerful  companion,  the  good  friend, 
the  honest,  faithful  public  servant. 


22  ADDRESS  BY  MR.  GARFIELD  ON  THE 


Address  by    Mr.    Garfield,  of  Ohio. 


Mr.  Speaker,  in  some  respects  this  Hall  is  the  coldest, 
the  most  isolated  place  in  which' the  human  heart  can  find 
a  temporary  residence.  We  are  in  the  service  of  distant 
constituencies,  each  of  us  representing  the  wishes  and 
aspirations  of  separate  communities,  people  with  whom 
we  are  far  more  closely  connected  than  with  each  other. 
Few  of  us  have  been  neighbors,  or  even  acquaintances. 
We  are  here  not  for  each  other,  but  for  the  public ;  and 
the  duties  of  our  temporary  sojourn  are  such  as  necessa- 
rily to  keep  us  isolated  from  each  other.  I  have  often 
been  saddened  with  the  thought  that  in  no  place  where 
my  life  has  been  cast  have  I  seen  so  much  necessary 
isolation  as  here.  True,  our  work  brings  us  together 
every  day ;  we  see  each  other's  faces ;  we  compare  opin- 
ions upon  public  questions ;  we  divide,  combine,  clash, 
agree,  attack,  and  defend :  but,  after  all,  this  life  is  a 
wonderful  isolation.  The  accidents  of  committee  service, 
of  the  seats  we  may  occupy  in  this  Hall,  of  the  places  in 
the  city  where  we  may  reside — all  these  frequently  deter- 
mine whether  we  shall  really  know  much  or  little  of  each 


LIFE  AND   CHARACTER   OF. HENRY  H.   STARKWEATHER.       23 

other.  And  usually  it  is  difficult,  without  the  favorable 
concurrence  of  these  accidents,  for  two  busy  members  of 
this  House  to  become  very  intimately  acquainted  with 
each  other. 

Mr.  STARKWEATHER  was  a  member  of  this  House  several 
years  before  I  could  say  that  I  had  any  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  him.  It  was  only  when  our  duties  brought  us 
together  upon  the  same  committee  that  I  came  to  realize 
how  much  I  had  lost  in  the  four  years  during  which  he 
had  been  a  member  of  this  body.  Our  service  together 
on  a  very  laborious  committee  gave  me  unusual  opportuni- 
ties to  study  the  character  of  his  mind  and  heart,  and  to 
know  that,  in  the  best  meaning  of  the  words,  he  was  a 
true,  genuine,  manly  man.  Foremost  among  his  high 
qualities  was  his  unselfishness.  He  was  one  of  the  few 
men  we  meet  in  this  ambitious  tussle  of  public  life  who 
is  willing  to  take  up  a  difficult  and  tangled  subject, 
patiently  work  it  out,  and  put  his  results  into  the  com- 
mon fund  of  work  as  cheerfully  and  faithfully  as  if  the 
duties  and  the  honors  were  all  his  own.  Without  com- 
plaining, quietly,  patiently,  and  faithfully  he  did  his  work, 
finding  his  reward  in  the  consciousness  of  duty  well  done. 

There  was  another  circumstance  that  enabled  us  to  know 
more  of  his  character  than  would  otherwise  have  been  pos- 
sible. I  have  sometimes  thought  that  we  cannot  know 
any  man  thoroughly  well  while  he  is  in  perfect  health.  As 
the  ebb-tide  discloses  the  real  lines  of  the  shore  and  bed 
of  the  sea,  so  feebleness,  sickness,  and  pain  bring  out  the 


24  ADDKESS  BY  MR.   GARFIELD   ON   THE 

real  character  of  a  man.  Who  knew  better  than  he  the 
sacred  ministry  of  pain?  Who  fought  more  bravely  for 
life?  Who  struggled  more  courageously  to  do  his  duty 
uncomplainingly  and  appear  to  be  well?  I  have  seen  him 
in  the  committee-room  in  such  paroxysms  of  coughing  that 
it  seemed  he  must  die  in  his  chair.  Yet,  with  a  rare  hope- 
fulness and  courage  that  rejected  help,  he  waved  his  friends 
off,  as  if  annoyed  that  they  should  notice  his  weakness. 
Thus,  for  years,  he  pushed  away  the  hand  that  was  reach- 
ing for  his  heart-strings,  and  bravely  worked  on  until  his 
last  hour.  I  do  not  doubt  that  his  will  and  cheerful  cour- 
age prolonged  his  life  many  years. 

He  was  a  man  of  uncommon  soundness  of  judgment, 
of  rare  common  sense.  I  recently  heard  one  of  our  fore- 
most scholars  and  thinkers  say  that  of  all  the  men  who 
had  made  the  most  enduring  impress  upon  the  character 
and  history  of  our  institutions,  the  men  of  sound  judgment 
had  done  vastly  more  for  us  than  all  our  brilliant  men 
had  accomplished.  He  noticed  especially  the  example  of 
Washington. 

Hamilton  was  the  master  of  a  brilliant  style,  clear  and 
bold  in  conception  and  decisive  in  execution;  Jefferson 
was  profoundly  imbued  with  a  philosophic  spirit,  could 
formulate  the  aspirations  of  a  brave  and  free  people  in  all 
the  graces  of  powerful  rhetoric;  and  other  master-minds 
of  that  period  added  their  great  and  valuable  contribu- 
tions to  the  common  stock;  but,  whether  in  the  camp  or 
in  the  Cabinet,  the  quality  that  rose  above  all  the  other 


LIFE  AND   CHARACTER   OF  HENRY  H.   STARKWEATHER.       25 

great  gifts  of  that  period  was  the  comprehensive  and  un- 
erring judgment  of  Washington.  Itwas  that  all-embracing 
sense,  that  calmness  of  solid  judgment,  that  made  him 
easily  chief;  not  only  the  first  man  of  his  age,  but  fore- 
most "in  the  foremost  files  of  time." 

I  was  deeply  impressed  with  this  tribute  to  the  value  of 
sound  judgment,  of  saving  common  sense,  as  contrasted 
with  the  more  flashing  qualities  of  genius.  And  I  may 
say  that  our  departed  friend  was  girded  with  a  calm, 
balanced  judgment  that  made  him  a  man  to  be  trusted  in 
moments  of  doubt  and  difficulty.  I  have  known  but  few 
men  who  knew  so  perfectly  the  drift  and  current  of  public 
thought  and  of  what  would  be  just  right  and  fitting  and 
wise  to  do.  It  was  this  which  made  Mr.  STARKWEATHER 
so  valuable  a  member  of  the  committees  on  which  he 
served.  They  found  him  never  fickle,  always  wise,  never 
extreme,  always  steady,  having  the  courage  of  his  opin- 
ions and  always  ready  to  defend  them. 

He  had  one  experience  that  almost  every  man  must 
have  before  his  character  can  be  fully  tested.  He  was 
tried  in  the  fiery  furnace  of  detraction  and  abuse.  I  re- 
member well,  in  that  period  of  assault,  how  calmly,  how 
modestly,  and  yet  how  bravely  he  bore  himself — without 
bitterness,  without  shrinking — boldly  meeting  all  assaults, 
calmly  answering,  bearing  himself  through  the  storm  like 
a  genuine  man  as  he  was.  That  was  the  test  which  set 
the  seal  of  character  and  gave  assurance  that  he  was  made 
of  the  real  stuff  of  which  genuine,  heroic  men  are  made. 


4  s 


26  ADDBESS  BY  ME.  GAEFIELD  ON  THE 

But,  after  all,  we  have  but  small  ground  to  judge  of  a 
man's  real  merits  here.  We  can  judge  of  many  qualities; 
but  if  we  would  know  a  man's  heart  and  learn  how  the 
foundations  of  his  character  have  been  laid,  we  must  enter 
that  circle  where  he  has  been  known  from  his  youth  and 
in  which  his  life  has  been  developed.  Well  as  I  knew  Mr. 
STARKWEATHEE,  I  confess  that  I  never  knew  until  we  bore 
his  body  back  to  his  home,  and  saw  his  neighbors  gathered 
around  his  bier,  how  true,  how  tender,  and  how  noble  a 
soul  was  his. 

We  know  but  little  of  each  other  here.  Behind  this 
public  life  lies  a  world  of  history,  of  quiet,  beautiful  home- 
life,  within  which  the  religious  opinions  and  sentiments  are 
manifested — a  world  of  affection,  the  features  of  which  are 
rarely  brought  out  in  this  forum.  Who  of  us  knew  the 
deep,  the  profound  religious  life  of  our  departed  friend? 
None  of  us  ever  saw  anything  in  him  inconsistent  with 
the  highest  religious  character;  but  who  of  us  had  learned 
that  at  home,  in  the  circle  of  his  family  and  his  church,  he 
was  a  steady,  clear  light,  illuminating  the  whole  circle  in 
which  he  moved,  and  filling  with  the  radiance  of  a  sweet 
and  beautiful  religious  life  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew  him. 
On  the  evening  of  his  very  last  day  at  home,  only  a  month 
before  he  came  here  to  die,  he  spoke  in  his  own  church,  in 
a  quiet  social  gathering,  such  words  as  we  found  were 
echoing  and  trembling  in  the  stricken  hearts  of  those  who 
came  to  follow  his  bier. 

There  was  no  religious  cant  in  this  man — no  ostenta- 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER.       27 

tious  parade  of  piety.  It  was  with  him,  as  he  said  of 
Senator  Ferry,  not  a  sentiment  merely,  but  a  controlling 
force,  that  cleared  his  pathway  and  molded  his  own  life. 
And  it  was  this  that  bowed  my  soul  in  reverence  and  love 
as  I  stood  beside  his  grave.  I  believe  we  may  say  in 
every  good  sense  of  the  word  that  his  life  has  been  a 
noble  and  worthy  success,  a  life  that  we  ought  to  remember 
for  our  own  sakes  and  for  the  sake  of  our  country,  a  life 
that  those  who  knew  him  can  never  forget. 

The  resolutions  were  then  unanimously  adopted;  and  in 
accordance  therewith  (at  four  o'clock  p.  m.)  the  House  ad- 
journed. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  SENATE. 
THURSDAY,  FEBRUARY  24,  1876. 


A  message  was  received  from  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives informing  the  Senate  of  the  death  of  Hon.  HENRY 
H.  STARKWEATHER,  late  a  member  of  the  House  from  the 
State  of  Connecticut,  and  transmitted  the  resolutions  of 
the  House  thereon. 

Mr.  ENGLISH.  Mr.  President,  I  ask  for  the  reading  of 
the  resolutions  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  Chief  Clerk  read  as  follows : 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

February  24,  1876. 

Resolved,  That  the  House  has  heard  with  deep  regret  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  death  of  HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER,  late  a 
member  of  this  House  from  the  State  of  Connecticut. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  testimony  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  the 
deceased  the  officers  and  members  of  the  House  will  wear  the 
usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
Clerk  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  further  mark  of  respect  the  House  do  now 
adjourn. 

Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  forthwith  trans- 
mitted to  the  Senate. 

Mr.  ENGLISH.  Mr.  President,  in  view  of  the  resolutions 
just  received  from  the  House  of  Representatives  an- 


30  PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  SENATE. 

nouncing  the  death  of  Mr.  STARKWEATHER,  late  Kepre- 
sentative  in  that  body  from  the  State  of  Connecticut,  I 
offer  the  following  resolution  for  adoption  by  the  Senate : 

Resolved,  That  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  Mr. 
STARKWEATHER  the  business  of  the  Senate  be  suspended,  that 
the  friends  of  the  deceased  may  pay  fitting  tribute  to  his  public 
and  private  virtues. 

The  resolution  was  agreed  to  unanimously. 


LIFE  AND   CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  H.   STARKWEATHER.       31 


Address  by    Mr.  English,  of  Connecticut. 


Mr.  President,  the  Angel  of  Death  in  passing  has  again 
thrust  his  hand  into  our  midst  and  taken  from  our  number 
another  member  of  the  Forty-fourth  Congress. 

HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER,  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  from  the  third  congressional  district  in 
Connecticut,  died  in  this  city  on  the  morning  of  the  28th 
ultimo. 

By  this  sudden  dispensation  of  Providence  the  State  of 
Connecticut  has  lost  one  of  her  most  honored  citizens 
and  faithful  public  servants,  on' whose  wisdom,  experience, 
integrity,  and  patriotism  her  people  have  been  accustomed 
to  rely,  and  whose  death  we  mourn  to-day,  and  here  and 
now  join  in  paying  tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory. 

Born  of  Christian  parents,  whose  piety  was  of  that 
decided  type  which  prevailed  in  New  England  in  the  last 
generation,  he  was  early  taught  to  fear  and  reverence 
God  and  love  his  fellow-man.  Guided  by  the  prayers 
and  counsels  of  his  parents,  his  life  developed  into  that 
devoted  and  useful  Christian  character  which  so  much 
endeared  him  to  all  of  his  friends  and  fellow-citizens. 

Mr.  STARKWEATHER  was  born  in  the  town  of  Preston, 


32  ADDRESS  BY  MR.  ENGLISH  ON  THE 

Conn ,  on  the  29th  day  of  April,  1826.  His  early  years 
were  spent  in  laboring  on  his  father's  farm  in  that  town, 
and  improving  his  early  educational  advantages  in  the 
public  schools,  which  are  open,  free,  to  every  child  in 
that  State.  Endowed  with  fine  natural  abilities,  and  with 
a  full  determination  on  his  part  to  improve  to  the  best 
advantage  the  talents  which  God  had  given  him,  he  em- 
ployed the  time  during  his  minority  by  cultivating  the 
soil  and  teaching  in  the  public  schools,  and  by  diligent 
reading  and  study  he  acquired  that  mental  culture  that 
enabled  him  to  enter  upon  the  study  of  his  chosen  profes- 
sion. In  the  year  1846  he  made  the  city  of  Norwich  his 
future  place  of  residence,  and  entered  upon  the  study  of 
the  law  under  the  guidance  of  the  Hon.  Lafayette  S.  Fos- 
ter, and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1850.  For  several 
years  he  retained  a  large  and  remunerative  practice  and 
occupied  a  high  position  among  his  professional  associates 
of  the  bar.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives  in  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut  in  1856, 
and  distinguished  himself  as  a  capable  and  faithful  legis- 
lator ;  was  a  delegate  to  the  national  republican  convention 
of  1860,  which  nominated  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  in  1868,  to  that 
which  nominated  General  Grant,  for  President.  He  was 
appointed  in  1861  postmaster  at  Norwich,  and  re-ap- 
pointed in  1865,  which  office  he  resigned  in  1866,  as  he 
said  in  a  letter  at  the  time,  "that  a  soldier  who  had 
fought  and  bled  for  his  country  might  receive  the  honor 
and  endowments  of  the  office."  He  was  elected  to  the 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  H.   STARKWEATHER.      33 

Fortieth,  Forty-first,  Forty-second,  Forty-third,  and 
Forty-fourth  Congresses  as  a  republican. 

Mr.  STARKWEATHER  early  exhibited  a  taste  for  political 
life.  Three  of  his  paternal  uncles  had  been  prominent 
lawyers,  and  two  of  them,  Hon.  David  A.  Starkweather, 
of  Ohio,  and  Hon.  George  C.  Starkweather,  of  New  York, 
had  been  members  of  Congress,  which  fact  undoubtedly 
stimulated  him  to  struggle  for  political  honors.  By  his 
capacity  and  assiduous  attention  to  all  the  duties  which 
had  been  intrusted  to  him  as  a  Representative  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  nation  he  won  the  confidence  and  respect  of  his 
constituents,  and,  as  an  evidence  of  their  high  sense  of  ap- 
preciation of  his  services  as  a  legislator,  he  was  elected  to 
represent  his  district  in  Congress  for  five  consecutive 
terms,  and  died  in  the  service. 

As  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  Mr. 
STARKWEATHER  had  the  confidence  and  respect  not  only 
of  his  constituents  and  friends  at  home,  but  of  his  fellow- 
members  in  that  body,  all  of  whom  honored  him  for  his 
simplicity  and  Christian  virtues,  and  all  who  knew  him 
testify  to  his  untiring  industry  and  diligent,  attention  to  all 
of  his  official  duties. 

Mr.  STARKWEATHER  was  a  modest  man,  not  brilliant  in 
speech,  participating  in  debate  but  seldom.  He  possessed 
a  clear,  strong  mind  and  sound  judgment,  which  enabled 
him  to  readily  comprehend  all  matters  of  business  before 
the  House  and  see  it  in  its  proper  light.  When  his  mind 
was .  once  made  up,  it  was  not  easy  to  swerve  him  from 


5  s 


34  ADDRESS  BY  MR.  ENGLISH  ON  THE 

his  purpose.  By  his  quiet  manner,  by  personal  solicita- 
tion, by  urging  measures  at  the  right  time,  he  was  very 
successful  in  making  himself  felt,  and  often  achieved 
greater  results  than  a  more  demonstrative  orator  could 
have  done.  In  a  word,  it  may  be  said :  He  was  faithful. 
He  was  capable.  He  was  honest. 

Alas  !  he  has  gone.  His  voice  will  no  more  be  heard  in 
these  Halls  forever.  With  him  the  voyage  of  life  is  ended. 
He  has  reached  that  haven  at  last  where  the  winds  cease 
to  blow,  the  waters  are  still,  and  where  there  is  eternal 
rest. 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER.       35 


Address  by    Mr.   Dawes,  of   Massachusetts. 


Mr.  President,  I  was  the  associate  and  friend  of  Mr. 
STARKWEATHER  during  all  the  time  of  his  service  in  the 
House,  and  I  therefore  deem  it  my  duty  as  well  as  priv- 
ilege to  briefly  bear  testimony  in  this  body,  to  which  he 
was  officially  a  stranger,  to  his  great  value  as  a  public 
man,  as  a  citizen,  and  as  a  friend.  He  was  called  to  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  a  Representative  with  the  well- 
earned  reputation  of  an  officer  faithful  and  trustworthy  in 
the  minutest  detail  and  most  difficult  complications  of  a 
responsible  public  trust ;  and  he  brought  to  his  new  work 
the  same  earnestness  and  fidelity  which  had  already  won 
the  confidence  of  his  immediate  fellow-citizens. 

There  fell  to  his  lot  in  the  distribution  of  business 
among  the  members,  as  is  the  wont  to  the  willing  and  the 
faithful,  an  unusual  share  of  the  labor  in  committee  and 
upon  the  floor  of  the  House.  His  patient,  painstaking, 
and  clear,  well-balanced  mind  made  him  of  great  service 
in  the  committee-room,  and  his  candor  and  plain,  straight- 
forward business  method  gained  him  great  influence  in 
the  management  before  the  House  of  the  business  he  had 
matured  for  its  consideration.  He  made  little  stir  and  less 


36  ADDRESS  BY  MR.  DAWES  ON  THE 

proclamation  beforehand  of  any  effort  it  became  necessary 
for  him  to  make,  and  after  its  performance  he  was  content 
to  let  its  merits  commend  it  to  the  approval  of  his  fellow- 
members  and  fellow-citizens. 

In  all  he  did,  modesty  and  self-distrust  were  handmaids 
of  usefulness  and  success.  Though  no  orator,  he  always 
spoke  with  effect,  and  was  quite  able  in  debate.  What  he 
had  to  say  always  had  about  it  a  directness  and  simplicity 
of  statement  and  illustration  so  necessary  to  profitable  dis- 
cussion and  for  which  the  House  always  hungers.  His 
usefulness  as  a  member  was  recognized  by  his  repeated 
appointment  by  different  Speakers  of  opposite  politics 
upon  the  most  important  standing  committees  of  the 
House ;  and  he  thus  participated  largely  in  shaping  the 
important  measures  brought  from  time  to  time  before  that 
body. 

In  all  the  relations  of  private  life  Mr.  STARKWEATHER 
won  the  esteem  and  personal  regard  of  all  who  knew  him. 
Sincerity  and  frankness  written  on  his  countenance  and 
illustrated  in  all  his  daily  intercourse  with  his  fellow- 
members  were  the  charm  of  his  social  intercourse.  He 
made  no  enemies,  but  many  friends,  who  were  attached 
to  him  till  the  end  by  the  ties  of  companionship  and 
brotherhood. 

Purity  of  life  and  nobleness  of  aim  and  endeavor  are 
the  great  lessons  he  has  left  for  us  who  are  still  spared  to 
further  opportunity  and  trial. 


LIFE  AND   CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER.      37 


Address  by    Mr.    Sargent,  of  California. 


Mr.  President,  Mr.  STARKWEATHER  entered  the  Fortieth 
Congress,  and  served  continuously  until  his  death.  No 
better  evidence  could  be  given  of  the  confidence  of  the 
people  whom  he  immediately  served.  He  possessed  abil- 
ity and  industry;  and  those  who  knew  him  intimately 
knew  that  he  was  generous,  genial,  and  courteous  in  all 
his  relations  with  his  fellow-members.  But  he  was  so 
modest  and  retiring  in  his  disposition  that  his  excellent 
abilities  were  not  always  understood,  and  he  was  himself 
less  known  than  many  members  of  far  less  length  of  ser- 
vice and  inferior  capacity  for  usefulness. 

Varioiis  circumstances  during  my  service  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  brought  me  in  somewhat  close  associa- 
tion with  Mr.  STARKWEATHER,  and  therefrom  I  had  oppor- 
tunity to  better  appreciate  the  sterling  attributes  of  his 
character.  From  the  knowledge  of  him  thus  gained  I 
saw  that  he  was  able  and  retiring;  that  he  was  courageous 
in  supporting  his  own  convictions,  while  fair  and  generous 
in  opposing  the  views  of  others;  that  his  immediate  con- 
stituents gained  direct  and  exceptional  benefits  from  his 


38  ADDKESS  BY  MR.   SARGENT  ON  THE 

industry,  while  his  zeal  for  the  public  good  did  not  end 
with  their  interests. 

The  Congressional  Globe  and  Record  are  not  burdened 
with  frequent  essays  from  his  pen;  but  on  the  rare  occa- 
sions whereon  he  spoke  it  was  obvious  that  his  purpose 
was  to  influence  the  minds  of  his  fellow-legislators,  and 
he  spoke  with  clearness,  force,  and  precision. 

He  was  useful  as  a  legislator,  sincere  and  consistent  in 
his  political  convictions,  faithful  to  his  constituents,  an 
earnest  lover  of  his  country,  and  honest  to  all  men. 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER.       39 


Address  by  Mr.  "Eaton,   of  Connecticut. 


Mr.  President,  again,  as  a  Senator  from  Connecticut,  am 
I  compelled  to  the  performance  of  a  sad  and  mournful 
duty.  Another  honored  son  of  my  State  has  been  stricken 
down  in  his  harness;  death  came  upon  him,  so  to  speak, 
while  in  the  performance  of  his  congressional  duties. 

HENRY  H.  STARKWEATHER,  a  Representative  in  Con- 
gress from  the  third  congressional  district  of  Connecticut, 
died  in  Washington  on  the  28th  day  of  January  of  this 
year. 

Mr.  STARKWEATHER  was  bora  in  Preston,  county  of 
New  London,  State  of  Connecticut,  on  .the  29th  day  of 
April,  1826. 

His  parents  were  respectable  but  not  wealthy  people, 
and  a  life  of  hard  manual  labor  seemed  looming  up  before 
the  youth,  a  life  the  lines  of  which  were  apparently  not 
cast  in  pleasant  places. 

The  ordinary  work  of  a  hard  New  England  farm  during 
the  summer  and  teaching  a  district  or  common  school  in 
the  winter  months  occupied  his  time  for  several  years, 


4Q  ADDRESS  BY  MR.  EATON  ON  THE 

when  the  ambition  for  advancement,  so  common  to  the 
New  England  youth,  assumed  control  of  his  mind. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  years,  he  commenced  the 
study  of  the  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  practice  of  that 
profession  in  the  county  of  New  London. 

Mr.  STARKWEATHER  did  not  possess  a  brilliant  mind, 
nor  had  he  the  comprehensive,  broad,  and  commanding 
intellect  which  forces  immediate  success  in  the  profession 
which  he  had  chosen.  But,  perhaps  what  was  better,  he 
was  a  devoted  student,  and  possessed  habits  of  untiring 
industry,  which,  before  he  arrived  at  middle  age,  enabled 
him  to  assume  a  fair  position  at  the  bar  of  his  county, 
which  numbered  among  its  members  some  of  the  ablest 
men  in  the  State. 

Mr.  STARKWEATHER  was  but  once  a  member  of  the 
Connecticut  Legislature,  and  therefore,  when  elected  to 
the  Fortieth  Congress,  his  legislative  experience  was  small. 

He  served  through  the  Fortieth,  Forty-first,  Forty- 
second,  and  Forty-third  Congresses,  and,  by  the  same 
untiring  industry  which  had  characterized  his  professional 
life,  he  became  an  eminently  useful  member  of  the  House. 
As  a  working  member  he  had  no  superior,  and  though 
in  his  speeches  never  rising  to  eloquence,  he  always  had 
the  ear  and  commanded  the  high  respect  of  his  fellow- 
members. 

Living  in  another  part  of  the  State,  attached  to  another 
political  organization,  my  relations  with  Mr.  STARK- 
WEATHER were  not  of  an  intimate  character,  but  always 


LIFE  AND   CHARACTER   OF   HENRY  H.   STARKWEATHER.       41 

friendly.  I  had  learned  to  regard  him  as  one  of  the  lead- 
ing minds  in  his  own  political  party,  and  respected  him 
accordingly. 

Of  high  personal  character,  I  shall  be  fully  warranted 
in  saying  that  those  who  knew  him  best  loved  him  most. 

Not  fifty  years  of  age  when  called  from  this  sphere  of 
action,  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  physical  and  intellectual 
power,  his  friends,  the  people  of  his  State,  entertained  high 
hopes  of  his  future  conduct  on  the  great  theater  whereon 
they  had  placed  him. 

But,  sir,  he  has  been  called  hence,  and  with  sincere  and 
truthful  sorrow  I  mourn  the  loss  of  a  valued  colleague, 
and  his  State  an  eminent  and  trusted  public  servant. 

Mr.  President,  I  beg  leave  to  offer  the  following  resolu- 
tion: 

Resolved,  That  as  an  additional  mark  of  respect  for  the  memory 
of  Mr.  STARKWEATHER,  late  a  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, the  Senate  do  now  adjourn. 

The  resolution  was  agreed  to  unanimously;  and  (at  four 
o'clock  and  forty  minutes  p.  m.)  the  Senate  adjourned. 


7 


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